Shloka 23
Adhyāya 249 — Mṛtyu-prādurbhāvaḥ (The Manifestation of Death) / Restraint of Tejas and Ordered Saṃhāra
नैतज्ज्ञात्वा पुमान् स्त्री वा पुनर्भवमवाप्तुते । अभवप्रतिपत्त्यर्थमेतद् धर्म विधीयते
vyāsa uvāca | na etaj jñātvā pumān strī vā punarbhavam avāptute | abhava-pratipatti-artham etad dharma vidhīyate |
毗耶娑说：无论男子或女子，若真实了知此（梵），便不再受后有，不复再生。名为“法”（dharma）的修持，正是为证得“不复成为”的境界——从此脱离后续的世间存在。
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Brahman-realization (true knowledge of the ultimate reality) ends punarbhava—one no longer returns to repeated birth. The dharma being taught here is framed as a means to attain 'abhava', the cessation of further becoming, i.e., liberation.
In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on liberation-oriented dharma, Vyāsa states a universal eligibility point (man or woman) and clarifies the purpose of the teaching: it is prescribed not merely for social order but to lead the seeker to freedom from rebirth through Brahman-knowledge.